Two books have come to my attention and,
perhaps, our mates might find one or the other interesting.

Anatomy of an Epidemic
by Robert Whitaker is a heavily documented study of the psycho drug
industry. It deals with the mood altering drugs prescribed by
psychiatrists for schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, bi-polar disorder,
etc. There are three groups here- antipsychotics, antidepressants and
anti-anxiety- but they are often applied across the board for all
symptoms. All are intended to corect a "chemical imbalance" in the
brain. This symptom has never been demonstrated in any physiological
study.

Whitaker has done a great service to the world
by documenting the collusion between the psychiatric profession, the
Natinal Institute for Mental Health (USA government body) and Big
Pharma. All three work together to promote the consumption of these
chemicals which, at different times, are the largest sellers of any
drug.

One of the rather sickening (in many ways)
ploys is to tell a supposedly mentally ill person that their "disease"
is like diabetes and they will have to be on medication for the rest of
their life, just as a diabetic is. The statistics show, invariably,
better outcomes with a placebo than these wonder drugs.

The US Social Security
System is being depleted because many millions of drug dependent people
are judged incapable of work and are awarded a lifetime benefit. This is
money from the taxpayer going directly to the coffers of Big Pharma.
Never mentioned by those who want to privatize SS.

The second book- The
Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz- has not yet been read by me as I am
on the waiting list for it. I did hear an interview with the author on
CBC and she describes a parallel fraud perpetuated on us by the
corporations which dominate the "food" industry. Just afer the war a
supposed "study" concluded that saturated fats were extremenly harmful
to humanity. Immediately there is the promotion of synthetic margarine
and vegetable oils and the condemnation of dairy products, eggs and
animal protein. Of course Archer Daniels Midland and Monsanto and
Cargill are not in the dairy or egg business.

We now have a society
with extreme numbers of obese, huge numbers of diabetics and huge
consumers of Statins to lower cholesterol. The evidence, according to
Teicholz, is that saturated fats are not harmful, that they only
slightly increase LDL but very significantly increase HDL. To associate
bodily accumulation of fat with the consumption of saturated fat is a
simplistic notion which can convince the uneducated. Obesity is
generated by the consumption of carbohydrates, including, to a large
degree, high fructose corn syrop, a big seller for the above
corporations.

Our Inuit used to have a diet which was 70%
fat and yet they were the healthiest specimens on earth. No longer as
processed junk has now entered their diets in a big way.

Just like with the
anti-psychotics, the research is funded by the industry, researchers who
wish to go in a different direction lose their funding from governments
and universities, the contrarians are publicly humiliated. The Heart
Institute is complicit with industry and the government agencies are
observers rather than critical reviewers

Both books teach us
that avarice by the coporate world has taken over our lives. All
internatiional disputes must be settled by warfare because that is the
option which generates most profit for the military-industrial complex.
Nations do not negotiate or try to solve disputes by diplomacy because
the 1938 Munich appeasement is pulled out evry time.

I read a very brief
booklet by my compatriot and important international reporter Ryszard
Kapuscinski entitled "The Other". He affirms we can deal with The Other
in only one of three ways: we can go to war, we can build a wall around
ourselves or we can communicate and negotiate with him. Incidentally,
the title of the booklet in Polish was Ten Inny which does not translate
exactly as stated. It is more nuanced towards a specific other and also
has an implied meaning of different.